NASA lets you go to the moon… for free

If you’ve ever dreamed of being an astronaut, you’ve probably idly checked out the price of one of those private rocket flights into orbit. And you’ve probably compared them unfavorably to a nice five-bedroom house in a fashionable urban area, and decided you didn’t want to go into space quite that badly after all. But courtesy of NASA, now you can take a trip all the way to the moon — for free.

OK, so there’s a catch. NASA’s moon “trip” is probably a little more virtual than you might have had in mind. Moonbase Alpha challenges gamers to step into the oversized moon-boots of an astronaut stationed on a fictional (but plausible) moon base. Your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to restore life support to base, after a meteor strike cripples a solar panel.

It’s available for free over digital delivery system Steam, and you can either play it on your own or as part of a six-strong team. Available base-fixing resources include a fully stocked equipment shed, robotic repair units, and a totally sweet lunar rover.